Albanian man home in Texas but still facing deportation

Published 6:00 pm, Sunday, March 2, 2008

An Albanian man whom immigration authorities want to sedate and deport was back with his family in Texas on Monday after posting bond.

Rrustem Neza fears deportation will put his life in jeopardy because he publicly identified the men accused of gunning down a Democratic leader in 1998, his family and attorney said.

Neza, who owns several restaurants in East Texas with his brother, had been detained for about a year at the Rolling Plains facility in Haskell, about 210 miles west of Dallas.

He was released after his family posted a $25,000 bond on Friday.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, a conservative Republican from Tyler in eastern Texas, previously introduced a private bill that would allow Neza to reapply for asylum and eventually receive lawful permanent resident status.

An agreement between the House Immigration Subcommittee and the Department of Homeland Security prevents Neza from being deported before March 2009 while the bill is considered, according to a statement released by Gohmert.

Xhemal Neza credited Gohmert and the Lufkin community for helping get a temporary halt in the deportation.

"God bless the people from Lufkin who helped us," Xhemal Neza said in a story for Tuesday's editions of The Lufkin Daily News.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials still plan to pursue a court order to sedate him for deportation, said his attorney John Wheat Gibson. His case could go before a federal judge later this year.

Neza lost a bid for asylum and appeals to reverse the decision. When immigration authorities tried to deport Neza in August, airlines officials at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport refused to let him fly because he was terrified and did not calm down. Neza physically resisted and shouted while at the terminal, according to court documents.

Neza's wife, Nurie, and 10-year-old son are not detained but also face deportation. The couple has a 6-year-old son who was born in the U.S. and would not face deportation, the newspaper reported.

Two of Neza's brothers have won asylum after also fleeing Albania, a European country of 3.6 million, Gibson said.

The House Immigration Subcommittee requested a report from the Department of Homeland Security to study Neza's situation, according to Gohmert's office.

"I will continue to seek legitimate asylum for Mr. Neza until he and his family can safely and peacefully carry on with their lives," Gohmert said in a statement Monday.